Close call: Calgary father and 4-year-old son sent to hospital with CO poisoning

Fire crews were called to a home in Calgary's Cityscape after a four-year-old boy and his father were found unresponsive.

Carbon monoxide from a vehicle left running in a garage at a residence in Calgary’s northeast sent a father and his young son to hospital on Wednesday.

It happened around 2 p.m. at a home on Cityside Garden N.E.

According to the Calgary Fire Department, it and EMS were called for the boy, 4, “experiencing breathing difficulties and losing consciousness.”

The fire department says a vehicle running in the attached garage since the morning resulted in a life-threatening concentration of CO in the home, and that there were no working CO alarms.

Both the boy and his father were taken to hospital.

While the situation had the potential to be life-threatening, EMS says both the boy and his father were considered to be in non-life-threatening condition when they were transported.

Firefighters have since ventilated the home, and CO levels are back to normal.

“This incident is a critical reminder of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning,” the fire department said in a release.

“CO is a colourless, odourless gas that can be deadly. The Calgary Fire Department urges all residents to install working CO alarms on every level of their home and never leave vehicles running in an attached garage, even with the door open.”

Further information about carbon monoxide and other safety tips can be found online at calgary.ca/fire.